


Child

by choppedmint (forevermint)



Series: The Road Not Taken [5]
Category: The Morganville Vampires - Rachel Caine
Genre: Child Abuse, Gen, Honestly this is just Theo's grandson's story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-24 17:14:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21641536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forevermint/pseuds/choppedmint
Summary: Written to the prompt: Sun
Series: The Road Not Taken [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1558276





	Child

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, I probably have a problem with the OCs ...

The sun hurt. And by hurt, it was like someone had poured liquid fire over his arm and then shattered the bones into fractured stars within his body, each one burning hotter than seemed possible. Aaron screamed, a hand covering his mouth before the sound had reached its peak. His arm had quite literally caught fire and he was jerked back into the shadow of the building, wrestling with his attacker until the flames went out.  
He knew him, of course. The one who’d pushed him down the stairs directly to his left and then took great joy in seeing what he could do to terrorize Aaron more. The boy whimpered, and he really was just a boy still. He wasn’t even a one hundred years of age yet. He’d lived perhaps a mere fifty and in all regards was still twelve, like his body. He still burned very easily, and he was horribly weak compared to the other vampire. Humans were easy, but the other man wasn’t a mortal and he had already hurt Aaron. He couldn’t even move the arm. So, he just made every effort to dodge, keeping out of the way. His heart wildly pounded in his chest, despite the fact it was just telling his attack he was scared.  
His name was Qué, and Aaron hated him more than anything in the world. If he needed an excuse other than these last few minutes, then it was because Qué had been a constant and abusive terror in his life ever since he’d been here. And that had been thirty years ago.  
Relief was coming back to his arm again as his body healed the worse burns. But his teeth were already out and his eyes red. He threw himself in Qué’s direction, suddenly bent on hurting him. If he’d had much control, then Aaron would have snapped out of it. But Qué always knew just how long it took him to get _almost_ into bloodlust. Qué laughed, dancing away from Aaron, even if just in the small space. “There we are, Aaron! I knew you’d make it. Come on! Don’t you just want to bite something? Maybe I should find another human for you, like the last time, hum?” Aaron held in a whimper, shivering back as Qué pressed on a memory that he’d already made sure was there. There were enough triggers in Aaron’s head from Qué and Bishop and varying others and they were all too easy to find. He remembered the human. He didn’t think he’d ever forget her, though he doubted Qué had even known her name. He’d just wanted to watch Aaron kill someone, just so he could threaten something like that again. Aaron swallowed, over and over again, and then bolted for the stairs, away from Bishop’s little assigned minion. He didn’t laugh, but Aaron could feel the smile pressing into his back. Aaron blurred so fast back into the dark structure that he tripped over several of the steps, having to use his badly burned hand to support himself. He found his way to where Theo and his parents where and he made a beeline for his mother. She clearly hadn’t been expecting him and she looked up in horror when she saw what had happened to her son. She scooped him up into her lap and Theo hurried over.  
“Was it Qué again?” he asked, anger boiling in his voice. He looked at Aaron, waiting for an answer, but Aaron just kept his mouth closed. Theo wasn’t any stronger than he was. He couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t do anything and every time he tried to stand up or get them out of here it just got _worse_. So, Aaron said nothing. Theo’s hand gently ran through his hair and he hesitantly moved around the room. After a second, he brought back a small vial of something red, holding it out to Aaron. Aaron’s stomach tossed. He knew full well that Bishop and the others gave them very little chance to store blood. They preferred they hunted for their own … and was very sure that it was from humans. But he was too hungry to care that what they had here was limited and that they wouldn’t be allowed to ‘hide’ out here for much longer.  
He fell asleep in his mother’s lap, listening to the wind outside the heavily curtained window. Maybe Qué would leave him alone for a couple months now. Maybe the others would as well. But there would be someone else, at the very least checking to see they were “being proper vampires”. Aaron squirmed a bit in his mother’s lap. If they could just fly away, then maybe everything would be alright. But they couldn’t and the furthest they’d gotten wasn’t far enough. Bishop had just found them again and he’d almost had Marcellus killed. Again. Like he’d killed them all the first time.  
He woke up when the curtains moved. He expected to see Theo there, moving them aside for the night. He liked looking up at the stars sometimes. But, instead, Aaron was shocked to see the cloth move from the other side. It pushed away from the window, one pale hand moving the cloth aside and then another. His mother was watching, tense. Virgil, his uncle, was standing near the door, just as tense as her.  
Then the curtain was completely pulled away and there was a blond hair woman, younger than his mother but older than Patience Jr., resting on the open sill. The darkness was a background to her pale clothing and she looked just as tense as she looked around the room. But she seemed to relax, finally. She seemed just a little familiar, her face shape and eyes reminding Aaron of someone.  
“My father’s pets, I assume,” she said, frowning at the room. Everyone seemed to tense more, if possible. Father?  
“No need to worry about me,” she said, almost with a smile. And then she tipped away from the window, leaving the sill empty. Virgil was the one who went to it, looking out and around. “She’s gone,” he said after a second. He sounded confused.  
Aaron moved away from his mother, looking around for his sister. He found her huddled in a corner and he scrambled over to her, standing next to her but keeping an eye on the window. Half an hour past and she was back. But this time, she moved completely into the room. Amazingly, she seemed completely comfortable within the room. She dipped her head to Virgil. Aaron noticed the power in her shoulder and how she took up the room.  
“My name is Amelie,” she said. “For now, my father is temporarily occupied. I was unaware you were here. My apologies.” She was a vampire, Aaron knew. She had to be. He remained close to Aurelia, however. She looked around the room again, then said, “There is every chance that he will not remain in this place by the time of dawn. I would not blame you if you wished to leave, as to be sure, but I cannot promise that any of his will not be around.” She was addressing Virgil, but Theo made himself know a second later. He stood, walking toward her. “Theo Goldman,” he greeted, bowing. Amelie smiled, but it looked a little awkward, as if she wasn’t completely sure how to look pleased. “Thank you for the information,” said Theo, and Aaron knew he meant it. “We shall leave now. But we appreciate what you have done.” Amelie dipped her head once, then backed toward the window again. “You are welcome.” Then she dismissed herself as quickly as she had come. Aaron realized he’d been clutching at his sister’s hand and he let go. He hadn’t expected this, never once. He hadn’t thought there was a way out.

**Author's Note:**

> ORIGIN "Sun: Child": Yet another story which created an OC. My intention was to yet again use Sun in the literal sense, but Aaron also ended up being a ‘Son’ in some senses. Showing Qué was probably my least favorite element, though I liked the fact I feel I wrote it well. Qué, it will be noted, is not the vampire who changed the Goldman family. That vampire will probably remain unnamed. Still, Bishop had a small collection of nastiest and Qué was just another of them. Within canon, it is stated Bishop considered the Goldmans a pet project and he held distaste toward them based on their religion and probably because they had a far better family structure than he would ever have. Amelie was, to summarize Theo’s words, the one who rescued them from it and showed them a different existence.


End file.
